1. Field
Embodiments provided herein generally relate to a mine guide apparatus, and particularly to an apparatus that attaches to a mine spad for identifying a boundary of a shaft or heading.
2. Technical Background
Mines such as coal mines may be created with a mine shaft or heading that spans a predetermined length into the mine and may have a relatively constant or varying height and width. Thus, depending on the particular mine, the mine shaft or heading may be sized to allow a drill or other vehicle to traverse the mine shaft or heading. Similarly, at times, the mine shaft or heading is too small to allow a vehicle to traverse the mine shaft or heading without utilizing a drilling tool to drill the desired material, such as coal, to open up the mine shaft or heading. Regardless, oftentimes the mine shaft or heading may run close to other deposits such as water, oil, natural gas, etc. or close to other mine shafts or headings. In such situations, a vehicle that inadvertently veers off course could collide with the deposit and/or other mine shaft or heading. If such a scenario occurs, not only could damage occur to the mine, but a dangerous situation may develop as well.
As such, mine workers oftentimes attempt to identify a desired mine path by using paint or other signifiers along the length of the mine shaft or heading. The signifier may be located on the ceiling of the mine and may allow a vehicle operator to traverse the mine shaft or heading without the risk of veering off course. However, applying the signifier may oftentimes also create a dangerous situation for mine workers. Specifically, a mine shaft or heading oftentimes includes a plurality of spads that are attached to the ceiling of the mine shaft or heading. The ceiling of the mine shaft or heading may range from about 3 feet to about 50 feet. As such, in many current solutions, the mine worker must climb up to the ceiling to attach a rod (that includes a hook) to the spads. As mine shafts and headings are often dark, the mine rods may provide a guide for a mine worker to create the signifier. However, as the ceilings are often out of reach for the mine worker, attaching the rods to the spads may create a dangerous situation for the mine worker.